Providing information and strategies and examples of how to create a learning space that centers equity, celebrates diversity, and affirms culture is the central focus of this piece of the internet. Helping you develop the type of learning space that you desire and your students deserve is a privilege and an honor. It matters because this is a learning space that will allow you AND your students to show up authentically and thrive and experience joy.
The other day however, I was challenged with the question, “How are you helping to build educator capacity for the journey?”
This is a great question, because the reality is I cannot be in every classroom, staff meeting, IEP meeting, board room, etc with you. So, am I just feeding you tips and strategies for the moment or pointing you in the right direction and helping you build capacity for learning on your own.
Well, I like to believe I am doing both. The podcast, my school workshops and coaching program, supplemental resources – these are all designed to be tools for partnership and guidance. I believe that to become a culturally competent educator who centers equity, celebrates diversity, and affirms culture there are three essential practices, reflection, learning, and implementation. I stand firm on that and I lean into it as I craft podcast episodes, design professional learning experiences, and facilitate coaching sessions.
In today’s episode I want to highlight five incredible female educators and scholars who have inspired and encouraged me on this journey. The research has aligned to the experiences I have had in education. It has also given me a name for this pedagogy and a road map to follow as I guide other educators on this journey. At the time of this recording I have met two of these women in person, but I hope to meet all of these incredible women one day.
Dr. Gloria Ladson Billings – She is considered the mother of culturally relevant pedagogy. Although her work started from a desire to understand the ways in which the educational system was failing Black and Brown children, boys in particular, her framework for teaching and learning is now understood as “just good teaching”. Dr. Ladson Billings is a change maker in education. She has held several roles, from professor at University of Wisconsin – Madison to consultant for publishing companies seeking to design culturally conscious curriculum to president of the National Academy of Education.
She has written several books and journal articles. Some of her more well known texts include “The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children”, “Crossing over Canaan: The Journey of new Teachers in Diverse Classrooms”, and “Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: Asking a Different Question”
Geneva Gay – The former professor of education at the University of Washington College dedicated the majority of her career to develop the idea and frameworks for multicultural education. She also coined the term “culturally responsive teaching”. Dr. Gay was never afraid to ask the tough questions of herself or the system in which she was teaching. During her time as a professor at Purdue she continued her research around the idea of multicultural and culturally responsive education. She has edited several book and contributed to publications including, “Culturally Responsive Teaching:Theory, Research, and Practice”
Zaretta Hammond – She is passionate about creating equitable learning spaces by equipping teachers with the brain science behind how children learn. She considers herself and “equity freedom fighter”. In her book “Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain” she breaks down how the neural pathways respond to different types of instruction. Hammond has been a classroom teacher, an adjunct professor at Saint Mary’s College in Northern California, and now focuses on supporting school districts to shift their education practices to be equity focused and culturally responsive.
Rudine Sims Bishop – Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop is Professor Emerita of Education at The Ohio State University. She taught courses on children’s literature while teaching in the College of Education and Human Ecology from 1986 to 2022.
Dr. Bishop has written several books including Shadow & Substance and Free within Ourselves: The Development of African American Children’s Literature. During her career, Dr. Bishop has focused on Multicultural and African American literature. She has been called the Mother of Multicultural literature and is most well known for introducing the concept of “Windows, Mirrors, and Sliding Glass Doors“.
She has received awards from many organizations including the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), the Arbuthnot Award, and the Coretta Scott King.
Shadow and Substance: Afro-American Experience in Contemporary Children’s Fiction (1982), Presenting Walter Dean Myers (1990), Kaleidoscope: A Multicultural Booklist for Grades K-8 (1994), and Wonders: The Best Children’s Poems of Effie Lee Newsome (1999)
Gholdy Muhammad – She is a seeker of joy and liberation in education. Dr. Muhammad has taken the work of scholars of yesteryear like W.E.B. Dubois and Mary McCloud Bethune and coupled it with current research from scholars like Dr. Ladson Billings and Dr. Geneva Gay to create a framework that succinctly outlines how to truly engage students in a learning experience for gaining knowledge through liberatory practices. In her books “Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy” and “Unearthing Joy: A Guide to Culturally and Historically Responsive Teaching and Learning” you can find the complete framework along with examples of lesson plans for subjects ranging from Writing to Art and STEM to music. Dr. Muhammad is currently an assistant professor at the University of Illinois – Chicago.
Dr, Taryn Fletcher – She is all about helping school leaders rethink how school is done so that all students can “feel empowered, valued, and courageous in their own skin”. As a former New Jersey school Superintendent and founding charter school principal, she knows what it takes to not only dream about the change you want to see in education, but to create that change. In her book, “In All Lanes: Action Steps for New Leaders to Empower Black and Brown Students, Rethink School, and Transform Behavior”, Dr. Fletcher strategically connects the how to the what. She shares success AND failures along her journey for change in New Jersey alongside each of the strategies. She has a heart for supporting school leaders on this journey toward change though her educational consulting firm, Truly POC – Power, Opulence, Consciousness.
Each of these women have inspired the work I do in education, partnering with schools and districts to create equity focused, diversity affirming, culturally aware learning environments.
Each of these scholars adds to the beautiful tapestry of instructional practices and possibilities to support all of our students, but in particular our Black and Brown students.
Each of these women is asking the tough questions, but providing practical and sustainable methods for achieving ongoing goals.
Tap into the knowledge Tap into the genius. Tap into the joy of education.
Remember to center equity, celebrate diversity and value culture every day.
Are these scholars describing the type of classroom you always dreamed of having? If so, you’re in good company. Let’s create this reality together. Check out the many on demand courses, teaching resources, and coaching options available:
